Maintenance obligations in relation to children in a cross-border family situation

An EU law known as the Maintenance Regulation covers maintenance obligations in the following situations:

• family relationships
• parentage
• marriage or affinity

What the Maintenance Regulation means is that a person who has an order for the payment of maintenance given an an Irish court can seek that amount in another EU country. The same situation is true in reverse - an EU judgment for maintenance can be enforced in Ireland.

For this to work on a practical level - each member state of the EU has a Central Authority when it comes to the Maintenance Regulation. In Ireland, this Central Authority is the Department of Justice.

If you have any queries and/or wish to apply to establish/vary/enforce an order for maintenance, an application form is available by contacting the Irish Central Authority by email, telephone or in writing:

You can apply to recover support payments from abroad if the debtor is living in an EU country or a country that has signed up to the UN Convention on maintenance or to the 2007 Hague Convention on maintenance.

Read a full list of countries participating in the UN convention.

Read a full list of countries participating in the 2007 Hague Convention.

Within the EU, a Regulation is in place to allow the recovery of support payments. . A person who has an order for the payment of maintenance given in an Irish court will be in a position to look for recovery of that amount in another EU country (with the exception of Denmark).

The Operations and Service Delivery division acts as the Central Authority in Ireland for the recovery of maintenance from abroad.

The same service is available to those in other Member States who are seeking recovery of maintenance from a debtor who is living in Ireland.

You can also view or download application forms in relation to the recovery of maintenance between EU countries.

A person who wishes to apply for maintenance outside of this jurisdiction may apply through the Irish Central Authority, provided that the country where the debtor lives is a party to the UN Convention, 2007 Hague Convention, or lives in the EU.

If you have any queries or wish to apply to establish or enforce an order for maintenance, an application form is available by contacting the Irish Central Authority by email, telephone or in writing:

I want to leave feedback on this page

I want to report an obstacle to my EU rights

I need help or assistance in regards to my EU rights